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skudiklier's Reviews (647)
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed this book! At first I wasn't sure if I'd love the writing, but by about a quarter of the way in I found myself too caught up in the story and characters to mind anymore. I found it really engaging and was very invested in what would happen, and in the romance. Slightly more spoilery/specific notes below:
(Also I normally wouldn't comment on the sex scenes specifically, good or bad, because that's embarrassing to me lmao. I would prefer to not acknowledge that when idk who will read this. So it's a mark of just how good they were that I feel the need to at least mention it in my review!)
Sometimes I start a (straight) romance and the male lead is described as so rude and humorless that I have no idea how they're going to bring me around to liking him by the end, or thinking he's a good fit for the female lead. This was one of those, but Biller did indeed end up putting me firmly on the side of the relationship! I love them together and really enjoyed this book.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read and review this ARC.
(Also I normally wouldn't comment on the sex scenes specifically, good or bad, because that's embarrassing to me lmao. I would prefer to not acknowledge that when idk who will read this. So it's a mark of just how good they were that I feel the need to at least mention it in my review!)
Sometimes I start a (straight) romance and the male lead is described as so rude and humorless that I have no idea how they're going to bring me around to liking him by the end, or thinking he's a good fit for the female lead. This was one of those, but Biller did indeed end up putting me firmly on the side of the relationship! I love them together and really enjoyed this book.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder
Moderate: Death, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol, War
Minor: Domestic abuse
Content warnings from author's website:
Gunplay
Attempted murder
Murder
Killing in self-defense
Assault
Bad parents
Animal attacks
General violence
Government corruption and injustice
Discussion of past spousal and child abuse
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So I honestly don't know how to review this book. I was very engaged, and read almost the entire thing in one day. And there were some bits I found really insightful and well-written. However, overall it was pretty stressful and dissatisfying. It kind of reminds me of The Catcher in the Rye in some ways, except I liked that book more.
I don't know. I did enjoy it in a way, and it was compelling, and I found myself rooting for Alex in spite of myself. But I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone. Maybe it's just not my kind of book. I'd love to hear someone argue for why it's good/what its purpose is beyond just being tense and stressful and somewhat entertaining.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the chance to read and review this ARC.
I don't know. I did enjoy it in a way, and it was compelling, and I found myself rooting for Alex in spite of myself. But I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone. Maybe it's just not my kind of book. I'd love to hear someone argue for why it's good/what its purpose is beyond just being tense and stressful and somewhat entertaining.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Stalking, Car accident, Alcohol, Classism
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book! I read it all in one day, and while honestly I've done that for books I ended up not really liking, this one was definitely one I enjoyed. I've really liked Curtis Sittenfeld's writing for a long time, and this is probably my favorite out of her books that I've read. She's so good at getting in people's heads and writing about complicated awkward interactions in such a compelling way, and the characters in this book are realistic and flawed but still likable. I love romance novels but I have problems with a lot of them, and this one found really great ways of getting around those problems. I would definitely recommend this book and I'm so glad I read it.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Transphobia, Police brutality, Grief, Pregnancy
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was interesting! Not sure how satisfying I find the ending, but I didn't see most of the twists coming, and I definitely wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next.
The audiobook narrators were all great as well.
The audiobook narrators were all great as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Cursing, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy
Minor: Racism, Death of parent
Revenge porn
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
I've wanted to read this collection for *so* long and I'm glad I finally did. It didn't disappoint in any way; I love Paige Lewis's poetry and want more of it in my life. So many poems in this collection blew me away, and there wasn't a single one I didn't like.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I'm absolutely blown away by Ari's latest book. The vulnerability, the way she writes about such painful things with such beautiful language, the way she makes some things metaphors and leaves others completely raw in what they are. This book took me on a journey I didn't even realize until I was so pulled in I had no choice but to continue. I'd absolutely recommend Unfold, whether you're a fan of Ari or completely new to her work.
Thank you to Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Thank you to Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Alcohol
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I *love* this series and when I heard there was another one coming out, I rushed to Netgalley to see if I could read it early. I'm so glad I was able to, and I read this book all in a single sitting. Maureen Johnson is just so good at crafting these mysteries and tying together the two storylines of past and present.
Also, a couple minor spoilers:I was excited to see ace representation! And oh my gosh the endinggggg.....it's not a cliffhanger in terms of the mystery, but it's a cliffhanger all the same. The only time I regret reading books early like this is I can't even go on Twitter to beg the author for a sequel, not when this book literally hasn't even come out yet haha.
Tl:dr: I loved this book and can't wait for the next Stevie Bell mystery.
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Also, a couple minor spoilers:
Tl:dr: I loved this book and can't wait for the next Stevie Bell mystery.
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Blood
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm really not sure how I feel about this book. On one hand, I enjoyed reading it, and was very invested in what was going to happen. I wasn't at all bored by it because I knew how Pride and Prejudice goes, or anything like that.
On the other hand, for the first third of the book I hated all of the characters, and I still don't really like most of them by the end. There's a lot of transphobia, fatphobia, racism, and homophobia. Some of these are very clearly faults of the characters, but others are less easily dismissed. (More details on each of these under the spoiler warning.)
Transphobia: a major plot point in the novel is when a character is revealed to be trans, and this is treated very badly by almost every character. This is actually the one spoiler I knew ahead of time, because I'm trans and I read a little bit about this part of the book before starting it. But what I didn't realize is that even Lizzy was going to be weird and transphobic about it. She does quickly learn what she said/did was wrong, and becomes better towards the end of the book. But still, that section was frustrating and I didn't like it. It feels way out of proportion for her to fly home because of this, and to be honest I think Darcy forgives her too easily for this. Overall though it's clear Sittenfeld meant the transphobia to be a fault of the characters, and she herself doesn't agree with that, and so on and so on. I'm glad it was so clearly disputed in the book. But I still wouldn't have made that this big of a deal in the book at all.
Fatphobia: the fatphobia is one of the bigger issues I have with the book, as it's both blatant and not super clearly disagreed with. Lizzy as the narrator repeatedly says things like how she tries not to get caught up in diet talk, but that she's not completely successful. The characters' fatphobia is made fun of in some ways but reinforced in others. Charlotte is the only fat character that I can think of who is presented in a positive light, but she's repeatedly called unattractive--by the characters, but still. I think all of the characters who are portrayed as attractive are straight size, if not actively thin.
Racism: part of me wants to say the racism is disputed in similar ways to the transphobia, but I know I might also just be less focused on that since I'm white. Lizzy does definitely point out that several characters are racist, and this is seen as bad, and it's clear neither Lizzy as the narrator nor Sittenfeld as the author think any of the racism is okay. However, the casual racism just scattered throughout the book was still obviously not great, and I'm not sure how much of it was necessary or relevant to the plot.
Homophobia/lesbophobia: the homophobia was pretty bad in the beginning, and got a little better later on. I feel it could have been addressed more clearly, rather than just being accepted as normal, but I have less issue with the homophobia than with the rest of the things listed above. Lizzy's sisters are kind of awful about it though, and if you don't feel like reading a bunch of "haha you're a lesbian" "no I'm not" interactions, I wouldn't recommend this book.
Overall, I'm pretty torn on if I liked this book or would recommend it. In general I like Sittenfeld's writing, but the more of her books I read, I'm not sure if I should want to read them. I don't think this was a terrible retelling of Pride and Prejudice, though it's definitely a different story with different characters. I was also not super convinced by Darcy's character in general; I feel like in the beginning he was an almost irredeemable asshole, and then later he just sort of became nice and interesting. I don't buy that that's the same person with the same motivations.
On the other hand, for the first third of the book I hated all of the characters, and I still don't really like most of them by the end. There's a lot of transphobia, fatphobia, racism, and homophobia. Some of these are very clearly faults of the characters, but others are less easily dismissed. (More details on each of these under the spoiler warning.)
Transphobia: a major plot point in the novel is when a character is revealed to be trans, and this is treated very badly by almost every character. This is actually the one spoiler I knew ahead of time, because I'm trans and I read a little bit about this part of the book before starting it. But what I didn't realize is that even Lizzy was going to be weird and transphobic about it. She does quickly learn what she said/did was wrong, and becomes better towards the end of the book. But still, that section was frustrating and I didn't like it. It feels way out of proportion for her to fly home because of this, and to be honest I think Darcy forgives her too easily for this. Overall though it's clear Sittenfeld meant the transphobia to be a fault of the characters, and she herself doesn't agree with that, and so on and so on. I'm glad it was so clearly disputed in the book. But I still wouldn't have made that this big of a deal in the book at all.
Fatphobia: the fatphobia is one of the bigger issues I have with the book, as it's both blatant and not super clearly disagreed with. Lizzy as the narrator repeatedly says things like how she tries not to get caught up in diet talk, but that she's not completely successful. The characters' fatphobia is made fun of in some ways but reinforced in others. Charlotte is the only fat character that I can think of who is presented in a positive light, but she's repeatedly called unattractive--by the characters, but still. I think all of the characters who are portrayed as attractive are straight size, if not actively thin.
Racism: part of me wants to say the racism is disputed in similar ways to the transphobia, but I know I might also just be less focused on that since I'm white. Lizzy does definitely point out that several characters are racist, and this is seen as bad, and it's clear neither Lizzy as the narrator nor Sittenfeld as the author think any of the racism is okay. However, the casual racism just scattered throughout the book was still obviously not great, and I'm not sure how much of it was necessary or relevant to the plot.
Homophobia/lesbophobia: the homophobia was pretty bad in the beginning, and got a little better later on. I feel it could have been addressed more clearly, rather than just being accepted as normal, but I have less issue with the homophobia than with the rest of the things listed above. Lizzy's sisters are kind of awful about it though, and if you don't feel like reading a bunch of "haha you're a lesbian" "no I'm not" interactions, I wouldn't recommend this book.
Overall, I'm pretty torn on if I liked this book or would recommend it. In general I like Sittenfeld's writing, but the more of her books I read, I'm not sure if I should want to read them. I don't think this was a terrible retelling of Pride and Prejudice, though it's definitely a different story with different characters. I was also not super convinced by Darcy's character in general; I feel like in the beginning he was an almost irredeemable asshole, and then later he just sort of became nice and interesting. I don't buy that that's the same person with the same motivations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Hate crime, Incest, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Pregnancy
Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Stalking, Murder, Outing
transphobic slur (t slur)
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wendy Mass was my favorite author as a child, and I loved so many of her books. This one I remember reading when I was maybe a little too young for it, but certain things from it really stuck with me. I've been in a bit of a reading slump so I decided to see if my library had this one, and I reread it for the first time in over a decade.
It definitely has some things that haven't aged well, and it feels very 2004 in ways both good and bad. But overall I liked it; it was definitely engaging, since I accidentally read the entire thing in like 24 hours despite having a lot of things I need to do. I really like how she shows so many glimpses into smaller characters' lives. The multiple POV thing/notes about things that happen outside of the time frame of the book really had an impact on me when I read this book as a child. It's an interesting concept and for the most part I think Mass pulls it off well.
It definitely has some things that haven't aged well, and it feels very 2004 in ways both good and bad. But overall I liked it; it was definitely engaging, since I accidentally read the entire thing in like 24 hours despite having a lot of things I need to do. I really like how she shows so many glimpses into smaller characters' lives. The multiple POV thing/notes about things that happen outside of the time frame of the book really had an impact on me when I read this book as a child. It's an interesting concept and for the most part I think Mass pulls it off well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Body shaming, Sexism, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Alcohol
Minor: Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Blood, Suicide attempt
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This book is so beautiful! Shelby writes so well about self-love, discovery, and acceptance. Girl Made of Glass is perfect for anyone who finds themselves fixating on the past or their own flaws, and needs to learn how to forgive themselves.
Thank you to Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Thank you to Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the chance to read and review this ARC.